1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to burners for burning petroleum products during well testing, and more particularly, to a modular burning apparatus having nozzles for mixing air, oil, and in some cases steam, and which utilizes a single pilot source for igniting a plurality of burners.
2. Description of the Prior Art
When well tests are performed disposal of the petroleum or other hydrocarbon products therefrom is generally carried out by burning. One problem with burning the hydrocarbon products is in insuring that the burner can adequately handle the amount of hydrocarbons to be burned. This requires that the nozzles in the burner atomize the petroleum products as much as possible and that an adequate supply of air be provided to improve air ingestion to obtain as complete combustion as possible. Burners designed for such purposes are well known in the art.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,894,831 to Glotin et al. discloses a burner having multiple burner assemblies or nozzles which are pointed in slightly divergent directions. A ring-like water injection system is disposed around each burner nozzle, and the water acts to reduce the radiated heat from the burner and also to reduce the amount of black smoke generated in the combustion process. The apparatus may be swiveled so that the flame is directed downwind from the well. Other burners which have multiple nozzles, are rotatable and have water sprays include those disclosed in British Patent No. 2,112,920 to Dewald; U.S. Pat. No. 4,348,171 to Issenmann; and U.S. Pat. No. 3,797,992 to Straitz, III. U.S. Pat. No. 3,980,416 to Goncalves et al. discloses a single nozzle burner which is rotatable and has ring-shaped water sprayers.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,096,124 to Young, assigned to the assignee of the present invention, provides a burner with a body which may have a plurality of nozzle ports therein. A single petroleum connection and a minimum of air connections to the body are used. This apparatus also provides a burner with a water ring.
Of course, the energy obtained from oil and gas wells is vital in today's world. However, protecting the environment is also important. In the exploration of oil and gas, testing of the wells is necessary, but the disposal by burning of the liquid hydrocarbons produced during the well tests has been less than desirable from an environmental standpoint. This is an unfortunate result of the insufficient combustion and poor air ingestion obtained with many prior art burners. The present invention addresses this problem by providing a burner apparatus with improved efficiency to minimize or eliminate the undesirable smoke and oil fallout associated with the burning process.
Oil and/or gas is supplied to burners via pumps or directly from an oil and gas separator during the well test. Air is supplied from compressors. In the burner atomizers, energy from either the oil flow, air flow, or a combination of both, cause the liquid fuel to be sprayed in the form of tiny droplets into the air. Generally, a propane-fueled pilot and igniter system provides an ignition source, and thus, the liquid fuel spray is combusted in open air. Any improvement in the atomization process results in more efficient burning.